Written Answers Wednesday 14 July 2010

Scottish Executive

Bridges

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when resurfacing work on the Cromarty Bridge will commence and how long it is anticipated that it will take.

Stewart Stevenson: A trial refurbishment contract will start on site on 12 July 2010 for 12 weeks, which will include resurfacing the four spans at the south end of Cromarty Bridge. There are currently no works programmed for refurbishment of the remainder of the bridge.

Bridges

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to minimise disruption from reduction in the available carriageway on the Cromarty Bridge during resurfacing work.

Stewart Stevenson: The planned works at Cromarty Bridge will be carried out with traffic light control. The queue lengths at the site will be monitored and if necessary, the lights controlled manually at peak times to minimise delays.

  During the two days of the Black Isle Show, the carriageway will be opened to  two-way traffic. Speed restrictions will, however, be in place as traffic will be running directly on the concrete bridge deck.

Digital Technology

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to upgrade the (a) Abbey St Bathans, (b) Cappercleugh, (c) Longformacus and (d) Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL exchanges.

Jim Mather: Information on the cost of upgrading the Abbey St Bathans, Cappercleugh, Longformacus and Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be released by the Scottish Government.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average fine was for possessing (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) cannabis and (e) amphetamines in the Lothians region in each year since 2007-08, broken down by sheriff court and giving the percentage change from the previous year.

Fergus Ewing: The information available is given in the following table.

  Average Fine (£) for Possession of Selected Drugs1, by Sheriff Court2, 2007-08 - 2008-09

  

 
2007-08
2008-09
 


Sheriff Court/Drug
Number of Fines
Average
Number of Fines
Average
% Change in Average Fine


Edinburgh
 
 
 
 
 


Cannabis
19
132
32
155
17


Heroin
41
172
51
204
19


Cocaine
41
190
58
219
15


Amphetamines
1
150
2
150
0


Ecstasy
37
231
32
216
-6


Haddington
 
 
 
 
 


Cannabis
4
206
1
300
46


Heroin
3
200
4
190
-5


Cocaine
1
100
1
400
300


Ecstasy
1
140
0
-
n/a


Linlithgow
 
 
 
 
 


Cannabis
10
212
22
112
-47


Heroin
3
187
15
205
10


Cocaine
7
254
6
266
5


Amphetamines
1
170
3
192
13


Ecstasy
3
360
1
700
94



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Including Justice of the Peace courts.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people convicted of possessing cannabis in the Lothian and Borders Police Force area received (a) a custodial sentence, (b) a community sentence order, (c) a probation order, (d) a drug treatment and testing order, (e) a fine or (f) another disposal in each of the last three years.

Fergus Ewing: The available information is included in the following table.

  Persons with a Charge Proved for Possession of Cannabis1 in the Lothian and Borders Police Force Area, 2006-07 to 2008-09

  

Main Result of Proceedings
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Custody
2
0
1


Community Service Order2
2
3
1


Probation
4
1
2


Drug Treatment and testing order
1
0
1


Fine
58
45
63


Admonished
10
11
13


Total
77
60
81



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Includes community service orders and sentences of probation with community service order.

Employment

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the population was of working age in Dundee in the last year for which information is available and what that percentage will be in 2033 if current proposals to increase the pensionable age are implemented.

Jim Mather: In mid-2009, 62.6 per cent of the population of Dundee City was of working age. In 2033, the projections published by the General Register Office for Scotland suggest that 60.2 per cent of the population of Dundee City will be of working age, assuming that the planned increases in the working age to 66 years are implemented.

Ferry Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the report, Final Report: Options for the Ferry Services Between Gourock and Dunoon, by the consultants, Deloitte and Touche, which provides an economic analysis of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry service, has been removed from its website.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35079 on 14 July 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Ferry Services

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the report, Final Report: Options for the Ferry Services Between Gourock and Dunoon, by the consultants, Deloitte and Touche, was removed from its website; who took the decision to remove it, and whether it will be returned to the website.

Stewart Stevenson: This report, which was published in 1998, has not been removed from the Scottish Government website. It is available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc15/fogd-00.asp.

  It was briefly unavailable for technical reasons due to maintenance work, including improvements to the functionality of the Scottish Government website.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further expenditure would be incurred if the Forth Replacement Crossing were cancelled immediately.

Stewart Stevenson: It is estimated that up to £22 million pounds of expenditure would be incurred if the Forth Replacement Crossing project were cancelled immediately. This is in relation to contingent liability costs and work already committed. This figure does not include any wind-down costs or staff redeployment which cannot be estimated at this stage.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the savings would be in (a) annual revenue expenditure for the next five years and (b) total capital expenditure if the Forth Replacement Crossing project were cancelled.

Stewart Stevenson: As outlined the Financial Memorandum which accompanied the Forth Crossing Bill, the estimated capital expenditure (in outturn costs) in this year and the next five years (2010-11 to 2015-2016) is £1.792 billion, there is no forecast revenue expenditure for the next five years.

  The Financial Memorandum can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/33-ForthCrossing/b33s3-introd-en.pdf.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will use to fund the Forth replacement crossing.

Stewart Stevenson: As advised in the Parliamentary statement on Strategic Transport Projects Review, on 10 December 2008, the Forth Replacement Crossing will be publicly funded and will be procured through a conventional design and build contract.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it has used community benefit clauses to ensure that poor people benefit from housing investment.

John Swinney: In February 2008 the Scottish Government published a detailed report and guidance on Community Benefit clauses with practical information on how and when to use the clauses including case studies, model clauses and lessons learnt. The report provided clear examples of how local authorities, housing associations and regeneration companies could use the clauses to achieve training and recruitment opportunities for a range of target groups through housing investment.

  We are continuing to work with the wider public sector to roll out Community Benefits clauses. These have now been used in a variety of public contracts and contractors have committed to over 2,000 placements for people who have been out of work and to SME and social enterprise development. For example, the Scottish Government Energy Assistance Programme contract has achieved a commitment to between 12% and 16% of the workforce being new entrant trainees in addition to a range of opportunities for SMEs and social enterprises.

Rail Network

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure was on the passenger rail franchise and associated costs in 2009-10.

Stewart Stevenson: The total expenditure on the passenger rail franchise in 2009-10 was £271m. In addition Network Rail provides the infrastructure on which the services operate and Scottish Ministers fund Network Rail in respect of the rail network in Scotland. The Network Rail payment for 2009-10 was £367m.

  The franchise payment to ScotRail is for delivering the terms of the Franchise Agreement including the services specified. The Network Rail payment is for the operation, maintenance and renewal of the existing network.

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual increase in cost would be to provide free school meals for all children.

Adam Ingram: It is estimated that to provide free school meals to all children currently in publicly funded schools (Primary, Secondary and the Special sector) would cost an additional £240 million each year.

  This figure does not include any costs associated with capacity issues, staffing or transport or the impact of inflation on future costs.

School Meals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage uptake has been of free school meals in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Adam Ingram: The latest information on free school meal uptake is given in table 3 of the national statistics publication School Meals in Scotland, 2010 . This can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/07/06095048/0.

Special Advisers

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what changes in special advisers have been made in the last six months.

John Swinney: In April 2010 Stephen Noon and Stuart Nicolson resigned to participate in the UK General Election. Stephen Noon chose not to return but Stuart Nicolson returned to his Special Adviser role on 17 May 2010.

  Alex Bell was appointed as a Special Adviser for a fixed term from 14 June 2010 until 24 September 2010.

Tax

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive areas of its expenditure are subject to VAT.

John Swinney: The areas of expenditure subject to VAT and the rules that apply to the Scottish Government are set out in the VAT section of the Scottish Public Finance Manual:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/spfm/vat.

Tax

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue guidance to local authorities and its agencies regarding the rise in VAT.

John Swinney: VAT is a reserved matter and as such guidance is issued by HM Customs and Excise. The agencies and other bodies are separately registered for VAT and their VAT Liaison Officers will be best placed to consider the impact of the increase on their respective bodies.

  As far as local authorities are concerned we do not expect the impact to be significant as under the VAT Act 1994 they are able to recover the VAT on supplies and services.

Tax

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated impact on its expenditure is of the increase in VAT to 20%, broken down by directorate.

John Swinney: The estimated impact of the increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20% for the Scottish Government’s own direct expenditure by directorate, forecast based on 2009-10 actual expenditure is:

  

Directorate General
Forecast


Increase £M


Economy and Chief Economic Adviser
0.2


Education
0.3


Health and Chief Executive NHS Scotland
0.8


Justice and Communities
1.1


Permanent Secretary
0.5


Rural Affairs, Environment and Services
2.0


Grand Total
4.9



  The total for the Scottish Government VAT registration including agencies is £7.2m.

Tourism

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in bringing the Virgin Galactic space tourism business to the Lossiemouth base in Moray.

Jim Mather: Highlands and Islands Enterprise are continuing to develop their relationship with Virgin Galactic with a view to supporting possible space operations from Scotland. Virgin Galactic have reiterated their ongoing commitment to the concept of using RAF Lossiemouth as a commercial base of operations for suborbital space tourist flights during summer months. They feel that RAF Lossiemouth offers an advantage by utilising the closed air space in the area which would be ideal for launching a spaceship at 50,000ft, and it benefits from having a runway at the edge of the sea, enabling take-off over the Moray Firth. However, there are significant regulatory and planning issues to overcome first to support space flights from Scotland and Virgin Galactic have always said that they would not even consider operations outside the USA until at least 2013.